Boulder police Officer Craig Beckjord, left, and University of Colorado police Sgt. Michael Lowry knock on a door at the Wimbledon Condominiums on Nov. 25 while conducting interviews with residents about the fatal officer-involved shooting at the complex. (Jeremy Papasso / Daily Camera)

The Boulder police officer who shot and killed a knife-wielding suspect last month was "legally justified" in using deadly force, District Attorney Stan Garnett announced Monday, concluding that no charges will be filed in the city's first officer-involved shooting in five years.

Garnett, in a five-page memo to Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner (see full document below), wrote that Officer Vincent Gallerani "reasonably believed that his life, and the lives of his fellow officers, were in imminent danger" when he shot Michael Habay on Nov. 24.

The district attorney revealed that Habay had written "To do: kill cops" on his calendar.

Habay, 41, was shot and killed at his apartment at 3009 Madison Ave. after police say he ran at officers while wielding two knives after they broke into his apartment under the belief that Habay's girlfriend, Kirstin Stenseng, may have been in danger inside.

William Habay, the shooting victim's father, previously called his son's death a "murder." On Monday, he said he wasn't surprised by the ruling.

"The DA's going to back the police. The police are going to back the DA," he said. "The truth will come out."

'Bye, I love you'

Garnett's memo, summarizing the investigation conducted by Boulder County's multi-jurisdictional "shoot team," also revealed for the first time that Stenseng told investigators that an officer shot Habay in the chest with a shotgun or rifle after he was down and, she believed, already dead.

Her story was contradicted by multiple police and civilian witnesses, Garnett wrote.

At the time of the shooting, Stenseng was at a friend's apartment in the same complex, texting Habay to warn him about the police, according to the DA's account. He texted back to say, "Bye, I love you, or something like that," she said.

According to Garnett's memo, once investigators entered Habay's condo, they found a derogatory statement about Boulder police written on a window frame, and, on a calendar in his kitchen, the phrase "To do: kill cops" written with an arrow pointing to Nov. 23.

On the day he was killed, Garnett wrote, Habay posted, "I want to died (sic) like in old west" on Facebook.

Garnett wrote that it remains unclear whether Habay meant to harm officers or to make them use deadly force against him.

Past arrest

Habay had a history of threatening and fighting with Stenseng, which is detailed in Garnett's memo. On Aug. 26 of this year, Stenseng's brother called police to report that, while on the phone with his sister, he heard Habay threaten to slit her throat, Garnett wrote. Stenseng told police at the time that she was afraid, but didn't think Habay would stab her.

That incident resulted in Habay's arrest and a protective order, but he and Stenseng were living together again at the time of the November shooting.

On Nov. 24, police were called around 7 a.m., this time by Stenseng's mother, reporting that she was concerned for her daughter's safety. Officers spoke to Stenseng on the scene, and she said she and Habay were arguing, but that it wasn't physical.

Habay wouldn't come out of the apartment, so the officers left.

Fatal shooting

At around 12:30 p.m. the same day, a neighbor called to report that Habay was hitting and throwing things, and had a large knife. When three officers arrived on the scene, they suspected Stenseng was inside, and barged through the apartment door.

Habay was running toward them holding a knife in each hand and wearing a shirt of protective padding when Gallerani shot him, officials said.

Witness reported hearing officers yell "drop the knives" before two or three gunshots. Habay died from wounds near his collarbone.

Gallerani, a 14-year veteran and a team leader on the department's SWAT team, was placed on paid leave during the Boulder County "shoot team" investigation of the fatal incident.

The last officer-involved shooting in Boulder took place in 2008, when a man who claimed to be wearing a bomb inside Boulder Community Hospital was shot and killed by a SWAT team member.

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